Glee Article: Rachel Berry : What Happened?

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posted by OCFan123

The phenomenal TV Show, Glee, gave us a handful set of interesting, complex characters last year, when it first aired. There was Kurt, a stereotypical gay teen, who had to face the difficulties of being bullied and being different. There was Will Shuster, the passionate, good-hearted teacher of Glee club. There was Quinn Fabray, popular, nasty-as-hell cheerleader, who found herself stuck in a patch when she became pregnant with her boyfriend's best friend.

What I have notice about this season of Glee is how these characters are now being treated. While people like Kurt and Brittany St. Pierce just get better, characters like Will Shuster start spiraling wayyy down. And I mean, way down. The most prominent example of this? Rachel Berry, who is (or was) considered سے طرف کی many to be the main character of Glee, یا at least the سٹار, ستارہ of the دکھائیں - until it has “become clear” to us viewers that now, Rachel is nothing but a harpy shrew who should not be taken seriously سے طرف کی anyone and her main concern in life is her dull-witted boyfriend, Finn Hudson (who is, OMG THE HOTTTEST BOY IN DA SCHOOLL!!)

Right. Let me explain.

Last season, Rachel was one of the most flawed characters I have ever seen on television. She was bossy, rude, shrilled, and a nagger. If آپ described her to someone who never even heard of Glee (and if there is a person who hasn’t, where have you’ve been? Under a rock?), Rachel would sound like someone آپ would despise at first sight. However, while Rachel had all these flaws, she was also strong-willed, determined, confident, and was not afraid to go after what she wanted no matter the cause. These qualities is what made Rachel such a compelling and wonderful character. Despite her many bad traits, Rachel was someone I felt like I could look up to. Not only that, but she started to develop as the series went on (example: complimenting Mercedes on doing a solo in Sectionals). All of this is what made Rachel Berry not just one of my پسندیدہ Glee characters, but one of my پسندیدہ characters in anything ever.

Now?

What happened?

This season, Rachel might as well be labeled a supporting character, who is only around for comedic effect and to be Finn Hudson’ dedicated, annoying girlfriend. Yes, that is exactly what Rachel is to me now. And it’s a real shame too.

Season Two of Glee starts off with Rachel sabotaging a girl’s chance at being a part of Glee club, because she was a pretty damn good singer, and would end up stealing the spotlight that Rachel enjoyed having. This is something that early Rachel probably would have done, and it would be portrayed as a amusing storyline. This Rachel, however? The one we have been watching for a year?
It was as thought the writers decided to take every ounce of development they gave Rachel last year, and threw it out the window. Because really? They put Rachel back at square one. And it only gets worst as this season goes on.

At first glance, آپ most likely don’t see anything recognizably different in Rachel. She would still appear to be the same person she’s always been. But if آپ think about each episode carefully, you’ll see that nothing important happen to Rachel. You’ll realize that every time Rachel opened her pretty little mouth, it was to say something officious. You’ll realize that Rachel has only done two things:

* Dominating/Yelling out her ideas to Glee Club

* Assure Finn that he is the best thing that God has ever created (yeah, right).

And honestly, it’s really sad. Now, Rachel is being portrayed as nothing مزید as “over-achieving, shrewd cow who were supposed to hate”. And I can’t help but think:

What happened to Rachel Berry?

Bottom line - a once independent, likeable, multi-layered character, is now being portrayed as a girl who will not be taken seriously سے طرف کی anyone else, and is right back to where she started at the beginning of Glee.

Thanks Ryan.

kathyism, piperlovegood and 12 others like this

spikes_girl You posted it, YAYZ! :D

gianelle17 i agree with you but i disagree with one thing and that is that i'm glad that the writer's haven't put so much attention onto rachel as to make her seem like the main character. this show is about teens who feel they don't fit in and that's the only thing that annoyed me about the first season was rachel having a plot in every episode. she's an amzing character and obviously has the best voice but that doesn't mean she has to sing everything. overall rachel is great and although she may seem mean and overcontrolling it's who her character is she was never really the selfless one but i think that people are just getting over everything being about rachel.

aaricmartin Yeah Glee is good musical drama show.I am huge fan of this show.

0oSquirto0 I really feel like Glee has lost its whole dynamic. Season one was A-MAZING and awesome and made you really enjoy life. This season just seems to be about sex and picking up one thing in an episode then forgetting about it in the next. Honestly the continuity is so appalling! It seems like the Glee writers are just going with the flow and have no real plan set out it's just like "oh hey let's make these people make-out". The only reason I still watch it is for Kurt's storyline, Blaine (♥) and the musical numbers. I mean what are they even going to put in a 3rd season?

Costa I agree. On season one, they always balanced Rachel flaws with qualities that made her likeable. She was humiliated, deceived and hurt, but kept her head high and fought everyone`s rejection, sometimes even helping the ones who treated her the worse. Now, the character seems a parody of herself. She doesn`t even qualifies as a comic character. And since Lea Michele has the best vocals on the group and therefore always perform, she ends up stuck with songs out of context that add nothing to the story, like that awful Britney impersonation or that appalling duet with Gwyneth Paltrow. And even when she was a main character of sorts, there were was always stories focused on the problems of other characters, like Kurt (we`ve been dealing with his homosexuality issues from the start), Quinn and Artie. The truth is, Glee is lots of fun, is a show with a lot of heart and maybe even good intentions, but it never had great scripts. They started with a good, solid idea, but now are just doing a camp version of 90210. I have a small hope they`ll do more episodes like “duets” and “Never Been Kissed”. But if they keep doing things like “Grilled Cheesus”, "Britney/Brittany" and “The Substitute” (not to mention the plot-less The Rocky Horror Glee Show) I’m saying goodbye to Glee.

Priscilita22 I totally agree with you, except for one part: I don't think Kurt and Brittany are getting more likable. I agree with everything you said about Rachel (who's my favorite character, at least was from the start) and I think it applies to all of them. The writers are just not developing these characters at all. Kurt was at first portrayed like this gay guy not too comfortable in his own skin, but yearning for that spotlight. Now all we see him in are dramatic storylines like his father having a heart attack, him being bullied, him fighting with other glee kids, etc. Honestly, I have barely seen him smile in this season, but I have seen him cry TOO many times. I understand that they want to deal with some serious issues, and that's fine in moderation, but with KURT it's just too much, this is supposed to be a COMEDY. I want this character to develop, to start being more comfortable, to be FRIENDS with the glee kids and instead it's all drama. I think there's just too much Kurt now and I'm not enjoying it, for example in the Furt episode, how come the parent's wedding (I forget their names now) ended up being all about KURT!? I still like Kurt, just like I still like Rachel, but for what they used to be. Because now Kurt just seems like this depressed character that's always yelling at someone, and it's annoying. As for Brittany, she's probably my favorite character right now, but I also think - just like with the rest of them - that they have her stuck in this one label and won't let her develop. The thing is, before when Brittany was just there for comedic relief, that was fine. She would be the one to say the punchline at the end of the episode to get the laugh, the "dumb blond" that says that one random comment that adds to the comedy. But now she's this main character and they are like exploiting a trait that works better in moderation. If they want to have her be a main character then they should take her out of the comfort zone a little, we all love the ditz Brittany but I think now that they have "upgraded" her from being just the comedy relief to being a main character they have exaggerated her feature to kind of unrealistic story lines. And this goes for all the character... What happened? I don't know but they are not developing them well at all in my opinion.

runnoft How can you comment on a character like Rachel without mentioning her incredible singing talent? The plots and characters on this show are stupid and meaningless. The fact that Lea Michelle is one of the most talented singers in the history of pop music overrides any comments on her character. It is now season 4 and I am convinced that Lea is beyond channeling Barbra Striesand , but is actually more talented than Barbra.